Volume II, Issue 37 October 23, 2013 |
"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment?"
~ Vita Sackville-West
Dear ,
Above is a small "My Writer Self" collage I made during a WordPlay seasonal writing retreats to remind myself that there is a writer inside me, and that time and space to write is an absolute necessity. There's a writer inside you, too, and s/he also needs time and space to write!
One way to provide it is to come to this Saturday's WordPlay Fall Writing Retreat. (You can make any kind of collage you like there -- I've got supplies! Except for a photo of beautiful you,of course. But you can bring one of those)
Now, you may or may not be able to attend, but even if you can't, I'm inviting you to give yourself an hour or two on Saturday to honor the part of you that loves to write.
In fact, I'm including a "mini-retreat" of prompts for just that purpose -- you can scroll on down and take a peek now or you can save it for Saturday and be surprised! Meanwhile, if you're on the fence about coming to Saturday's retreat, here are six reasons to leap off and come: 6. Delicious passages of fall poetry and prose to savor
5. No rules, just write ;)
4. Great WordPlaymates to create with
3. An energy infusion for your inner writer
2. Connection to the joy of being and growing
1. Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy take-home tools so you can keep your words, and your joy, flowing
The retreat is from 10 am - 5 pm in South Charlotte, and the $97 fee includes a healthy, delicious lunch. Click here to register online with PayPal or a credit card. If you don't like to pay online, email info@wordplaynow.com
or phone 704-494-9961 with your phone number and email address. I'll let you know if there is astill room and send you all the details you need. More details below. You deserve more than "The Bare Necessities." You deserve fun, and musical memories, too ;). And, of course, time and space to write. Savor your writing Saturday, Maureen Upcoming WordPlay THE 2013 FALL WRITING RETREAT (Writing - and More - as Renewal / Creating New Writing)
Renew and delight yourself. Seasonal retreats are opportunities to create new pieces of writing and/or new possibilities for our lives. Enjoy various seasonal prompts; they have not failed to elicit beautiful material that can be shaped into essays, poems, stories, or articles. After a communal lunch, you'll have private time which can be used to collage, work with a piece of writing from the morning, or play with a number of other writing prompts and methods. You'll take home new ideas, new drafts, and new possibilities. $97 includes lunch and supplies. WHERE: South Charlotte area. Details will be provided upon registration. WHEN:
This Saturday, October 26, 2013,10 am - 5 pm
TO REGISTER: click here to register online with PayPal or a credit card. Don't like to pay online? Email info@wordplaynow.com
or phone 704-494-9961 with your phone number and email address. I'll let you know if there is still room and send you all the details you need. THE COASTAL WRITING RETREAT: Connect with Your Creativity at the Sunset Inn
Renew yourself, whether you are a practicing writer, closet writer, or as-yet-to-pick-up-the-pen writer.The techniques and prompts we'll use will spur your imagination, and can be used to create nonfiction, fiction, and/or poetry -- the choice is yours. There will be ample free time to savor your private room with king-sized bed, private bath and balcony, the large porches with rocking chairs and swings, and the coastal setting. The Sunset Inn is a five-minute walk from Sunset Beach and is next to a peaceful marsh where herons and cranes live. You'll have your choice of rooms, each with its own distinctive style and color scheme. You'll return home refreshed, with new ideas and energy for your writing. $438 includes writing sessions, two nights' lodging, two breakfasts and Saturday lunch (hotel tax and Saturday dinner at a local restaurant not included).
WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, November 1 - Sunday, November 3, 2013*
OR Friday, November 8 - Sunday, November 10, 2013*
(*Two separate retreats.Please note that Friday, November 8- Sunday, November 10 will be a PROJECT BOOK Retreat with additional focus on the process of bringing a book into being.)
TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888.575.1001 or 910.575.1000 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are blocked off as unavailable online. Register soon by phone -- this is a popular event and there are only 8 spaces available each weekend. The Inn will hold your reservation with a credit card.
See http://wordplaynow.com/current.htm for more details and more WordPlay opportunities. Add My Necessities To Your List
for Lisel Mueller by
Maureen Ryan Griffin
1 Contours. Mountaintops and valleys
for their own sakes, glinting river beds,
winding roads that lead
to the inviting, unknown places. Woods
to hide in. To get lost in, like Hansel and Gretel,
and find our way out of, proving to ourselves
our hearts know true north. 2 Oceans.
To run alongside of, to show us blue-grey green
backlit by sun, to drop treasures at our feet. Streams,
so we will know how peace sounds. Cold well water
worth working a rusty pump handle for. A memory
of an early morning lake
that took our breath away when we plunged. 3 Fruit.
The first wild strawberry, fresh
from the sun. The last, gleaming in a Mason jar
from the fruit cellar. Sweetness as reward for
struggle. Nourishment after battling
dry weather, hailstorms, the odds.
Love, passion, apples ripening on trees
in children's picture books. 4 Words.
Thick books, dialects. Endearments
murmured in foreign accents between kisses on
windy hillsides. Poems with their slant rhymes,
rhythms. Babies' babbles: pure desire for words. 5
Kin.
Children who hum when they build block
roadways. Husbands and fathers who whistle.
Grandmothers. Oh, Lisel Mueller, the grandmother
I never had, may I adopt you to mark
my map as I make my way toward
that cliff you have defeated
with the contours of your oceans,
the fruit of your words?
WordPlay Now! Saturday Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay -- so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "necessity." 1. First, open up a notebook or journal and consider this question: What Do You Need to Thrive? Take the time to note what conditions you need to thrive as a writer. One of writer May Sarton's necessities was a cat. "
My cat likes to goout at one in the morning, so I have to let him out," she once said. "And at two he meows to come in. [While he is out] I make notes for poems. And then in the morning... I work at them. I would not still be a poet without the cat." How much companionship (human, feline, or otherwise) do you need? How much is too much? How much sleep is a necessity? Are you a morning person? A night owl? Do you need time to mull things over, or do you like to write in the heat of the moment? Do you work
best in short bursts or long stretches? If you're a procrastinator, what does it take to get your hand in motion? You may need to guess at some of these answers, and then do some research on yourself to verify your findings. Having gained some clarity about the conditions under which you work best, what routines will you put in place? Is it time to get a cat? :)
Do you need to carve out a quiet hour each morning, or give up watching television a
few evenings a week? Once you've discovered what you need to thrive as a writer, give it to yourself. 2. Now, spend some time with the delightful activity of listing. And what better to list than necessities? They are, after all, well, necessary! You can make this list for yourself or, if you write fiction, for one of your characters. I invite you to
read poet Lisel Mueller's poem "Necessities" , which inspired my poem, to widen your definition of necessities. What sustains your humanity and nurtures your creativity? What makes you smile? Belly laugh? You may want to just begin listing necessities and see what grows. Or,if some structure would help, set a timer for ten minutes (I like this online one that applauds when the time's up:
http://www.online-stopwatch.com/eggtimer-countdown/full-screen/?ns=../../s/3.mp3 ) and list "necessities" until the timer goes off. Then set the timer for twenty minutes and try shaping a list poem, using as many of the items on your original list as you care to. Another option is to pick one necessity off your list and write about that. 3. Next, if you have a writing project in the works, I encourage you to -- yes, right now -- open up your notebook (or file) and spend at least 30 minutes working on it.
I often begin by giving myself ten minutes to read over all or part of what I've written, and then begin where I left off, and keep going. If you don't have a writing project started, pick a story you love to tell -that you have never written down - from your own life or someone else's -- and remedy that situation right now. 4. Lastly, when you're finished, pull out your calendar and schedule another time to write, as well as a time to treat yourself to one of your necessities. |
MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You
, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn -- and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! |
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